Myanmar junta holds another '88 uprising leader

YANGON, Sep 30 (Reuters) Myanmar's military junta arrested another leader of the 1988 student uprising today, the fourth activist held this week as Washington stepped up pressure on the regime to stop jailing its political opponents.

Police picked up Ko Min Zeya from his home in Yangon, a family member told Reuters, four days after fellow student leaders Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and Htay Kway were detained without explanation.

''Things are going from bad to worse,'' said a colleague of Ko Min Zeya, who was freed in 1998 after nearly a decade in jail.

''The police have stepped up surveillance on our movements and activities. Our houses are also under surveillance,'' said the colleague, who declined to be named.

The four were key figures in the nationwide protests against military rule that resulted in the deaths of several thousand demonstrators after troops intervened.

They were jailed for many years but had maintained a low profile after their release.

Ko Min Zeya's arrest comes a day after he and other ex-1988 student leaders sent a letter to junta chief Senior General Than Shwe and Home Minister Maung Oo calling for the immediate release of the three men.

The army has run the former Burma in one form or another since a 1962 coup.

The United States yesterday said it would seek a UN Security Council resolution to pressure Myanmar to stop jailing political opponents, persecuting minorities and flooding the region with refugees.

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